Category: Free Falling

To commemorate my wife and my 35th anniversary, we embarked on a Canada to New England cruise in late July. As first timers, we were not sure what to expect. We actually set a number of ?firsts? on the trip. For starters, it was the first time either of us had set foot in Canada. I remember as a kid […]

In the June issue of the AARP Bulletin (yes, I am old enough to get this magazine), writer Betsy Towner presents a list of fixtures of everyday life that will ?go the way of the gramophone, labeled ?quaint? and relegated to museums?if not the trash? in the next 50 years. Some I would be prone to agree with. Others, I […]

As a Kansan, I never thought I would feel an earthquake, at least not while within the borders of my own state, and certainly not within the confines of my home. But, it is happening with more and more regularity these days. Friday evening, as I sat at my computer contemplating a subject for my next column, I felt the […]

I?ve never actually been asked to give a graduation speech. No, no. I am not fishing for an invitation. But, I have sometimes thought about what I would say as I faced the shining group of eager faces about to get a cold slap of reality from life. Would I hand out the usual words of encouragement about how the […]

Let?s face it, Kansas voters blew it. I was one of many who sounded a warning about what could happen if Sam Brownback was re-elected as our governor, and the reality is that the people of this once populist and progressive state seldom cast ballots that reflect their own best interests. We are now seeing those poor decisions bearing fruit. […]

Pete knew early on that he was different. The first time he stepped up to the T-ball plate, his dad had to correct him. He had approached from the wrong side, the opposite of the other kids. His father gently moved him around to the other side where the rest of the players had gone. Then, there was the time […]

It is a blessing and a curse at the same time. I guess I was born with it. I have never lost it. I?m not sure where I would be without it. But, it is always there, running in my head like the operating system of a Mac or PC. Whether I am in church, at a school faculty meeting, […]

I?ve never been a big fan of TV?s ?The Amazing Race.? Quite frankly, it really makes me nervous. And I don?t particularly like feeling anxious. That?s my least favorite part of traveling; so, obviously, I would not be a good contestant on the show. Like the rest of the people in the Hillsboro and Tabor College communities, I have been […]

I woke up feeling a bit depressed Wednes?day. I was also sad. And, more than a little frightened. Plus, my feelings were hurt. You see, my choice for governor in Tuesday?s election didn?t make it. He came close, but we all know the only places that counts. I was left feeling a bit down. After all the negative ads I […]

When in the course of Kansas events, it becomes necessary for residents to dissolve the political bands that have connected them with a governor, and to assume among the powers of the Jayhawkers, the separate and equal station to which the laws of economics and of tax payments entitle them, a decent respect to the voters of Kansas requires that […]